Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-02-09
FRIGHTFUL RAILROAD ACCIDENT.

Inc nlSnC express ~ Nou11eai, C'no
which left Springfield, Mass, at S.l5 last
Friday night, with excursionists for the ice
palace carnival, ran off the bridge at Wood
stock, VT, two miles north of White River
Junction, and the sleepers, passenger cars
and bridge were entirely burned. The train
was about an hour and half late, leaving
White River Junction. 1t consisted of a
locomotive, baggage car, postal car, two
passenger coaches and two sleeping cars,
and was running at the usual rate of speed.
When about two hundred yards of the south
end of Deck bridge, near Old Windsor Sta
ton, broken rail was struck.
The locomotive, baggage car and postal
car broke away from the rest OF the train,
passing over the bridge in safety. The rest
of the train was thrown from the rails and
continued on the road bed until it came near
the bridge, but there it ran over an abut-
ment and all of the cars fell into White
river, some fifty feet below. The gorge at
this point is frightful, and when the cars
went down there was terrible crash. AS
soon as possible the detached part of the
train was stopped and ran back to the scene
of the disaster.
Soon after help arrived it was discovered
that fire had started in the first passenger
coach, and soon the entire train was ablaze,
thus adding new horror to the already
frightful catastrophe. Those present were
powerless to stop the fire and devoted them
selves entirely to attemptingto to rescue those
imprisoned in the wreck. The rescuers met
another and an unexpected obstacle in the
heat, which had become so intense that they
were obliged to relinquish all efforts to save
the sufferers, and were compelled to retreat
to place of safety for themselves, and TO
become unwilling and horror stricken wit
nesses of the awful holocaust. In addition
to this, and to add to the terrors and suffer
ings of the passengers, the weather was in
tensely cold, and the heroic rescuers were
hindered thereby in their work.
No>water could be obtained with which
to check or extinguish the flames. Ice was
several inches thick on the river, and there
were no appliances at hand to raise it.
A dispatch of Sunday says:
About eight thousand persons visited the
scene of the railroad accident to-day. The
only trains run were for the accommodate ion
of the officials and for carrying the wounded
and dead, consequently there were many
fifty miles and centreing here in long pro-
cessions. Seven or eight bodies were to-day
identified by friends, and many heart-rend-
ing scenes were witnessed. It utterly i'm
possible to identify more than ten or twelve
of those recovered, the clothing being en-
tirely gone and the bodies burned too crisp.
The work of removing the wreckage and
recovering bodies has been pushed vigor-
ously all day. The ruins have been minute
ly searched and probably all recovered that
can be. The iron work of the cars has all
been pulled over and cleared away. The
total number of bodies recovered thus far is
thirty-two, and thirty-nine wounded pas
sengers are in the care Of surgeons. Little
idea can be formed of the difficulties in the
way of obtaining report of the accident that
would give the public correct idea of the
condition of things. At the time of its oc-
currence and ever since, the thermometer
has registered from five to fifteen degrees
below zero. The suffering from cold was
intense. There are only two or three farm
houses within two miles of the wreck and
those are filled with the wounded. Others
are scattered along for three or four miles,
with no means of communication except by
train. Hundreds of people searching for
friends are here, and nearly every neWspa-
per in New England has a representative at
the scene of the wreck. Work was suspend
ed at dark last night owing to the severity
of the weather, but was resumed this NOR
ming. The water in White river at the
place near the accidents not more than five
or six feet deep, with but littlecurrent, and
the ice is perhaps fourteen inches thick.
The falling of the cars upon it and the heat
of the fire melted the ice clean. But little
of the personal effects of the passengers was
left to reveal the identity of their owners.